Does this not bother you if you are voting for Obama?

[EKUAlum05]

http://news-expressky.com/articles/2008/10/07/news/01obama.txt

 

First they are going to the mosque's, which I really don't mind, but this is over the line IMO.

[formerkywrestler]

As a change of pace, I'll sometimes listen to B96. I have noticed an amazing amount of ads encouraging felons to get their voting rights restored. I don't recall ever noticing these kind of ads before.

[Ms Liberty]

Scary , very scary. What will happen?

[UKPat02]

Why shouldn't felons who have served their time be restored the right to vote?

[spindoc]

Great demographic if you are a Dem. Bigger government, more "programs", more money available for them. Funded by you and me.

Enjoy!!

[Mr.Fundamental]

It bothers me on the left and right. There again is not a true canadate, other than for Bob Barr!

 

Check him out, most would lean alot towards his stances.

[Hatz]

So should Chuck Colson, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Keating, or many others not have the opportunity to go through the process of voter restoration once their prison time is finished?

[Hatz]

Great demographic if you are a Dem. Bigger government, more "programs", more money available for them. Funded by you and me.

Enjoy!!

 

The only problem with your generalization is the last 8 years under a Republican. Under Bush we have created bigger government from "No Child Left Behind," to "Homeland Security," to now the "Bailout Bill."

[75center]

The only problem with your generalization is the last 8 years under a Republican. Under Bush we have created bigger government from "No Child Left Behind," to "Homeland Security," to now the "Bailout Bill."

 

Yes, he should have stopped at Homeland Security.

[All Tell]

So should Chuck Colson, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Keating, or many others not have the opportunity to go through the process of voter restoration once their prison time is finished?

 

No they shouldn't.

[DADDY CAT]

Why should they?

They violated laws and paid the price, knowing that being caught results in certain liberties being taken away.

 

Do we let all ex-cons have guns? Do we let sexual predators off the lists because of time served? Where does it end? They violated the rights of others with their acts, what makes them victims now after being the victimizer?

 

(I know mistakes can be made. One can mistakenly take a newspaper without paying. One can drive off after filling a car up thinking the spouse paid for the fuel. One does not accidentally rape/mutilate an 8 year old or pistol whip a clerk in a convience store. What gives them the right to perform these actions and expect total forgiveness for serving a sentence, which was liberally cut down in time anyway. Most catch the biggest break of all liberties just in the fact we don't execute much anymore. Responsibility for our actions. Why should they get the right to vote?

[cch5432]

Why shouldn't felons who have served their time be restored the right to vote?

Well, it sort of has to do with social contract theory, and those who have committed serious crimes have broken that contract with society and forfeited their right to participate in a civil society. But using this logic, one can take that idea onto way too many tangents. I'd like to see another thread on the issue, those who are more familiar with the subject could discuss it more.

 

It's more disturbing to me when the ACLU and others (i.e. Rev. Al Sharpton's younger brother) try to get current felons to vote. Anyone who is currently in prison, IMO, has forfeited their right to vote.

[UKPat02]

Why should they get the right to vote?

 

Because they paid their debt to society.

 

Where should it stop on the other end? Should they be allowed a driver's license? Be able to run for office? Surely you think they should still pay taxes, so why shouldn't they be allowed to vote?

[UKPat02]

Well, it sort of has to do with social contract theory, and those who have committed serious crimes have broken that contract with society and forfeited their right to participate in a civil society. But using this logic, one can take that idea onto way too many tangents. I'd like to see another thread on the issue, those who are more familiar with the subject could discuss it more.

 

It's more disturbing to me when the ACLU and others (i.e. Rev. Al Sharpton's younger brother) try to get current felons to vote. Anyone who is currently in prison, IMO, has forfeited their right to vote.

 

I agree that current felons shouldn't be allowed to vote. But once you'd paid your debt, shouldn't basic civil liberties be restored?

[rockmom]

Wow, what a loaded topic.

 

This delves far deeper than this election.

 

Let's as a basic, human-interest question: Do you believe that a person cannot change, that their rights should be forever terminated if they commit a crime, regardless of the circumstances?

 

People like to cry "Murderer's shouldn't vote!" But, if they've done their sentence, they're released and expected to rejoin the "real" world. They're expected to hold jobs, pay taxes and be productive citizens. Why should they be denied the rights of other citizens after their release? They can join the military, get a college education, become model citizens, yet be denied the right to vote?

 

So, the quandry I see here is this: If we are to expect that prison time is a means of finite punishment for most, and that in the ideological sense, it's "graduates" rejoin society reformed, why should their rights not be restored?